SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott football has had some of the area’s best quarterbacks, from Kyle Beatrice to Chris Cameron right up to Colin Frary from last year’s team.
Graham Inzana may be nudging them aside to make room for himself after Saturday’s game.
Inzana threw for 207 yards on 16-of-24 passing, and connected for three touchdown passes (two to Jonathan Oriakhi and one to Andrew Augustin) as the No. 1 Big Blue throttled No. 4 Pentucket, 34-0, to advance to next weekend’s Division 5 North final against Amesbury. The game between the 8-1 Big Blue and 7-2 Indians — the top two seeds in the division — will be Saturday at noon.
“If Colin hadn’t been here last year, Graham could have done the job,” said coach Bobby Serino. “He’s a quick study, and he really learns from film.”
The game started in a monsoon and ended in winds gusting so fiercely the trees were swaying all around Blocksidge Field.
“When we saw what the forecast was going to be, we decided we wanted to get some points up right away,” Serino said.
“It’s been a horrible fall for football,” said Serino. “But we practice for this. We weren’t inside once. Rain wasn’t going to stop us. And wind wasn’t going to stop us.”
Pentucket couldn’t either. From the opening kick to the closing gun, Swampscott was in control. The Big Blue took its first lead on its first drive, when Inzana hit Oriakhi with a 23-yard scoring pass. Thomas Frisoli, who made every PAT save for the last one, added the point to make it 7-0.
Augustin (3 catches, 33 yards) snagged the second of Inzana’s three scoring passes from 22 yards out to make it 14-0 heading into the second quarter.
Isaac Andre’s 1-yard plunge made it 21-0 before the end of the half.
Oriakhi caught the second of his two TD passes in the third quarter, a 55-yard strike to make it 28-0.
“I think,” joked Serino, “Oriakhi buys Inzana lunch every day.”
Andre’s 5-yard run, his second TD for the day, closed out the scoring.
“Andre,” said Serino, “has been a savior for us. He finally got healthy and has given us the tough yards.
“He’s a great kid,” said Serino. “He fumbled once last year, and ever since he’s worked on ball security. You see him, and he always has two hands on the ball when he feels he’s about to be tackled. He’s really given (Dylan) January some much-needed relief, too.
Pentucket’s task was made more difficult in the second quarter when running back Andrew Melone had to be taken off the field with concussion-like symptoms.
